


Melting in the Rain

by MortalAnonymous



Series: Fanboy and Kyle's Bumpy Relationship Road [1]
Category: Fanboy & Chum Chum (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Cutesy, During Canon, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MortalAnonymous/pseuds/MortalAnonymous
Summary: Rain is really the worst when you're a wizard.
Relationships: Kyle Bloodworth-Thomason/Fanboy
Series: Fanboy and Kyle's Bumpy Relationship Road [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829329
Comments: 6
Kudos: 70





	Melting in the Rain

Through the torrential inky downpour bucketing itself out of the sky, two brightly-costumed boys traipsed merrily with a mountainous load of bagged groceries piled between them into a tiny red wagon. This they pulled with a hand each on its single handle.

Fanboy, the lanky one in the purple cowl and green Spandex, glanced up towards the thickly-blanketed sky. “Woah, you would _not_ be able to tell it is mid-day Spring,” he marveled in an off-hand sort of way.

“Yeah, this storm came outta nowhere,” Chum Chum, his much more stout companion in orange and yellow, agreed, “I don't mind it, since rainwater's super soothing for my complexion.” He took a moment to stroke the back of his gloved hand over a cheek. “But I hope the groceries make it home ok. We don't have enough to go back for anything.”

A more concerned glance back at the towering stack of paper bags. Dots of darker wet patches grew threateningly on one such bag he eyed, before a small tear appeared suddenly and the corner of a Strawberry Fun Finger poked through dramatically. Chum Chum gasped and firmed his grip on the wagon handle, marching forward with redoubled determination. No snack would be lost on _his_ watch!

“Agreed,” Fanboy nodded, not having to put much more into his steps since his legs were already so much longer than his best friend's. However, the next second his face fell into a curious blink and he glanced around in perplex. “Wait a second, Chum Chum...do you hear that?”

He put a hand to his ear as though trying to pinpoint a location this sound might be coming from. Chum Chum blinked and copied him, but was at a loss. “Uh, no. What am I listening for?”

“That faint sniveling and hushed moaning. Those quiet sniffles calling out in distress and self-pity. So weak and _feeble_ and _British..!_ ” A gasp as Fanboy realized what he was describing. “Why, I think that's _Kyle's_ wimpy whimpering I detect!”

“Ah,” Chum Chum realized, “That would make sense. Your ears _are_ more tuned into Kyle's frequency than mine.” He gestured to a radio knob inside his ear that had not been there before, on which a series of colored wedges, each labeled with a picture, illustrated what degree of the knob was for what. Kyle's wedge was only moderate in size.

“Indeed!” Fanboy exclaimed with purpose, his own ear now trained towards what he perceived as the source of the sound and sporting its own radio knob. His wedge for the wizard boy took up most of the dial. “And I do believe his distress is coming from _that_ bus stop!” A dramatic gesture towards the tiny shelter a long way down the street and across from where they were.

“Uh-oh,” Chum Chum noted, “But we have to turn _here!_ And there's no way all our snacks will make it if we go to the bus stop now..! Uh, maybe we can come back for him?” Of course Chum Chum wanted to help. He was quite selfless and both boys considered Kyle to be their dear friend, but Chum Chum was also more rational than to just dive in without thinking.

“No time!” Fanboy was much more on the side of immediate action. “It's easy. Chum Chum, you see our groceries home safe. _I'll_ go play with – I mean see what's wrong with Kyle.” He was also the more selfish between the two, and easily prioritized getting to see his favorite non-housemate over chores.

In the next second, he'd already scampered off freely, on his way towards the bus stop with a happy laugh.

“Uh...ok, then!” Chum Chum had no choice but to agree with his friend's impulsive decision. He guessed it made sense to split up that way. Fanboy also liked Kyle a lot more than he did, even if they both liked him plenty. “Come on, groceries, _somebody's_ gotta get you home.” After addressing the tower of stacked bags, he tugged on the handle of the wagon, straining heavily as half the muscle moving it was now gone. It rolled about half an inch. This was going to take a while.

On the other hand, Fanboy reached the bus stop in an impossibly short few seconds. “Kyle?” he perked eagerly, but blinked in confusion when the boy was not seen sitting on the bench inside the small terminal.

“Kyle?” Fanboy puzzled now, “Kyyyyyle Kyle Kyle Kyle Kyle Kyle Kyle?” As he repeated the other's name, in rapid succession he poked his head around the outside of the terminal, stared inside a sidewalk crack, then looked inside the stop at every corner, the ceiling, inside the slots of the pamphlet holder full of schedules, and even inside a schedule itself. Nada.

Then finally he had the crazy idea of looking down and finally spotted the redheaded wizard curled up tightly under the bench.

“Ah, Kyle!” Brightening again, Fanboy flopped belly-first on top of the bench and beamed brightly down at the other. “There you are! What're you doing down there, silly? Don't you know how a bench works?”

The boy in the red and gold striped shirt had had no desire to make himself known as he'd heard himself called repeatedly, but it wasn't like he'd had time to interject anyway. Now, as a purple-gloved finger dangled in front of his face and pressed forward to poke his nose, his expression tightened in displeasure.

Swatting the arm away with one of his own, he groused through a thick posh accent and prominent braces, “Go away. I want to wallow in my helplessness in privacy.”

Hardly put off by the bristling rebuke, Fanboy's head tipped sympathetically, “Awww, what's the matter? Did you lose your marching baton?”

Now Kyle looked cross. Why could no one ever seem to remember this? “It's a powerful magic _wand,_ and _no,_ I did not _lose_ it!” He pulled it out to prove it. Then he shot a pink beam of energy at the boy over him and levitated him, relocating him outside and then letting him drop face-first into a puddle.

Fanboy shot up to his feet, smile no less wide. A knowing finger waggled towards the sulking one. “Ohhh, I get it. Did you just want someone to play in the rain with? Well, have no fear, the Fan Man is here!” Stance wide, he shot two eager thumbs his own way. “And I would _love_ to play with you! You know I hear rain is very good for the complexion.”

After a quick pause to grace his cheek with the back of his hand, he happily stretched his arm to reach for the boy who had sent him out here.

In alarm, Kyle's eyes bulged and he called out, scrambling backwards on the ground in sudden terror until his back was flat against the back wall of the bus terminal. “NO! Don't pull me out there! You'll _kill_ me! The only thing that water will do to my complexion is dissolve it post-haste!”

Fanboy blinked and puckered at this information, and then his arm deflated as he recalled hearing something like that before. “Oh riiiight. You and the rain thing. Acid death. Forgot about that.”

“Yes!” Kyle pressed now, irritation back in his voice, “Which is precisely why I'm hunkered down _here,_ waiting out this storm, shivering with only my cape for meager warmth, instead of at home with a lovely fireplace, enjoying some nice zydeco records and the latest wizarding gossip magazine. Lousy weather scryer..! I knew I should have gotten the _cable_ Orb of Oracle.”

While he complained, Fanboy had stepped back into the stop and shaken himself like a dog to dry. Somehow his Spandex then exploded out with incredible fluff like a dog's fur as well. Now with comb in hand, Fanboy returned his suit to normal and stepped forward with fresh inspiration. “Hey, I've got a cape too! And it's got...industriaaaaal heating!”

Spreading his lengthy purple cape wide, he revealed the insides to be covered in an extremely chunky, red-hot network of mechanical parts. Kyle's lips formed an O of interest until he heard Fanboy go on. “If you're cold, wanna share?”

Grabbing the corners of his own simple black cape, the young wizard hugged his arms around his knees and turned his cheek to the offer. “No, thank you. I believe I will simply carry on as I was. I am accustomed.” He was a big fan of personal space and independence, and had made it through plenty of storms without help. Plus, he remembered the last time he'd turned to this one and his friend in an hour of need regarding rainwater. He'd ended up taking his chances with the rain.

Fanboy's head tilted again in a bit of sympathetic endearment. Hopping onto the bench now, he stretched his hand back to pinch Kyle's head between finger and thumb and lift the curled boy onto it next to him like a crane. “Well, at _least_ let me keep you company!” he insisted while Kyle blinked at the persistence to adhere to his side, “It's no fun waiting for a cause of imminent demise to pass all alone! Waiting is boring. So _I'm_ gonna help take your mind off it!”

Ugh, why could Fanboy never take a hint? Why did he always have to get involved with Kyle's business when his help or presence was clearly not desired? And yet, in most cases, things still ended up working out in a weird way. At least in some sense. And it was so well-meaning, Kyle couldn't hate the other – or his friend – _entirely._ Though he kind of hated that, too. He hated when Fanboy made him feel good. It was always Fanboy who roped his friend into spending time with him. Fanboy headed all the plans. And so he got most of the credit in Kyle's eyes. But Fanboy was also such a goofball ninny that Kyle didn't _want_ to not hate him entirely. Such friends should be beneath him! He shouldn't want to consider the boy so! It would be so much easier if everyone just left Kyle alone and let him live his life by his lonesome, like he always had! People caring about you was weird. He'd wanted them to tremble before his greatness.

Ignoring that weird little chest glow that knowing someone cared about his well-being brought, Kyle just huffed, “Don't you have _anywhere_ else you could be right now..?”

“Hmmmm, nope! Nothing comes to mind!” Fanboy tapped his chin and then shrugged breezily.

-

Chum Chum struggled against the weight of his wagon. He'd made it one whole sidewalk square! Only about nine thousand to go!

-

Fanboy added, “Besides, even if I do, my memory's not the greatest, and I'm here now, so _you_ take priority.” A suave trigger finger was shot the wizard's way. “Can't think of anyone I'd rather sit in a damp leaky bus terminal with anyway.”

It was likely just meant to be assuring, but Kyle couldn't help feeling flattered regardless. And likewise despising it. “Well, I am rather spectacular company, but even so...” His eyes widened as the cowled boy's words caught up with him. “Wait, did you say 'leaky'..? There's a leak?!” In a flash, he'd scrunched his body tightly again and scooched close to Fanboy, back pressed into his side as he trembled, gaze flicking in fear for the potential threat.

“Yeah, right over there.” Fanboy pointed out the small trickle of water coming through the roof off in the far side of the terminal. Luckily, it was at the edge of the tiny enclosure. Then Fanboy noticed something more important and gasped. “Kyle..! You're shaking like a leaf..! That does it, mister. You are getting my body heat whether you like it or not..!”

“What? No, I was only shivering harder out of..!” As usual, his protests fell on deaf ears and Fanboy just did what he felt like, this time that being to take the edges of his cape and wrap his arms firmly and snugly around the boy beside him, his expression resolute.

As well, Kyle's complaint was cut short as he registered the instant coziness enveloping him. Most of his shivering had been from the cold, and as stubborn as he was to power through it, now that this option was forced on him he couldn't help instinctively preferring it. “Actually, that's...rather nice.” His own hands wrapped the edges of his cape and brought it up inside to form a second layer of insulation around him, sagging with a pleasant hum to recline on his side.

Following the motion, Fanboy remained on top of the redhead and gladly adjusted himself to be a better blanket. “Thaaaat's _better..!_ ” he declared, glad to see Kyle relent to the warmth and even smile. He didn't do that a lot. “No really, I think this is nice too. You are _surprisingly_ soft to cuddle for such a prickly boy. Oh, and is that lavender shampoo and body elixir I smell..?”

Kyle opened his eyes, expression hard as he blushed feeling a nose with no reservations pressing into the crook of his neck for several sniffs. Right. _That_ was why he'd been against this. “Stop that..!” he groused at the one with no sense of personal space, “I am not a pot of Potpourri..! Keep your nose to yourself! Ugh, couldn't you just... _lend_ me your cape, and I'll return it to you once the storm has passed?”

"Uhhh, _hello_ , Kyle..!” Fanboy chuckled like he'd just heard the dumbest oversight, shaking his head in amusement before poking a finger out to point at his neck. “The cape is _attached_ to my cowl..? I'm not going to walk around in _public_ without _that!_ ” What a ridiculous suggestion. “I mean I'd let you see, of course, but the entire neighborhood? Please..!”

“Oh.” The syllable was delivered flatly. Of course the boy obsessed with hiding his 'true persona' or whatever would refuse to take that off. Poking his wand up through the cape lip, he offered, “Perhaps another time. Though I could make you invisible~?”

“Hmmmmm, temptiiiiing...” Fanboy granted, squinting at the wand in scrutiny, “But nah. I like the cuddling option.” He squeezed his arms more tightly and wiggled the other slightly.

Kyle blushed anew. “What..! Why! You don't have to be here! I don't _want_ you to be here! I'm offering you freedom to go and do _anything_ else!”

“Yeah, but I _wanted_ to come spend time with you..!” countered Fanboy, “And now I get to protect you from the elements, _and_ snuggle! It's win-win!” Another thought came to him, “Speaking of your stick, though, why can't you just use _that_ to go home or make a fire or something?”

A feeble noise of distaste. “My _wand_ is weakened by the rain as well. I can't teleport or do anything terribly complicated. Watch. _Cozy-wozum blanky-flankies, biggus toastium campius fire-ini._ ” His attempt to create a more plush environment to stay in only resulted in a single pink sputter spitting out of his wand and dropping to the cold concrete, where it fizzled into a mere wisp of smoke.

“Ooo...” Fanboy saw the problem. “Yeah that...wasn't impressive.”

“I am aware. More importantly, what's this about _wanting_ to spend time with me? Where does that impulse even _stem_ from? I rebuke you every chance I get.” This seemed like a good opportunity to figure out what possessed this nincompoop and his little friend to hound him so.

“Well, not _every_ chance...” Fanboy noted. _Sometimes_ Kyle tolerated his existence..!

“Chance enough,” Kyle insisted, “What about me is it that makes you _insist_ on badgering me with your presence? That would make you simply _whim_ to be with me as you do? To say that _this_ is something you'd choose to do?” He glanced at the intimate way the other boy had him ensnared. It wasn't much to think of because Fanboy invaded everyone's personal space, but to claim he was happy to do something as inactive as snuggling when normally he was so hyper was certainly worth a question.

“Uhhh, _duh,_ how about because I just _like_ you..?”

That weird warm spot in Kyle's chest was back. And it was bigger. His stomach fluttered and his face was red again as he blinked wide eyes turned for the boy over him. “Beg pardon..?”

Reaching up, Fanboy gently pinched Kyle's earlobe and took a genuinely concerned look inside the canal over it. “You got something in your ears? I thought that was pretty straightforward. Ahem. I said...IIIIII liiiiiike youuuuuu..!” His lips very gingerly brushed Kyle's ear now as he repeated his sentence pointedly, but not at any painful decibels.

Kyle felt a different shiver rattle its way up his spine. “No-no..! I heard you..!” Hurriedly, he shoved the fingers on his ear and the face ghosting it. “I suppose I just mean...why..?”

“I'unno,” Fanboy shrugged, though being forced to think about it made a couple of butterflies stir in his stomach, “Ever since we met, there's just been _something_ about you that's made me wanna see you smile. Maybe it's the teeth?” He pointed at the other's bulky pearly whites, and in turn Kyle slapped his palms over them in self-consciousness. “Ehh...but those are pretty visible even when you're not smiling. Oo! I know! Maybe it's the crushing loneliness oozing out of your very soul!”

“Um...” That didn't make Kyle any less self-conscious. He'd admitted to himself that he _was_ pretty lonely, however. Something this ninny had opened his thoughts about previously, making him realize he might actually enjoy companionship from his peers.

“Whatever it is,” Fanboy went on, “I love it, I wanna protect it, and it brings me a- _knockin'._ You're just a fun guy, Kyle. Of course I wanna spend time with you..!”

Merrily, the boy in purple squeezed tightly again and nuzzled his cheek against the wizard's. “Yeesh, you're kinda burning up now, though. Should I open the cape a crack?”

He reached for a four-paneled house window inside the cape, but against his usual instincts, Kyle pushed it back down and took Fanboy's hand away from it. And he was grinning. “No, actually, it's alright. I'm just feeling a bit flustered. Me..? Fun..? Oh, I don't know what to say..!” Nobody thought he was fun. He was a loser, a buzzkill, ignorable, a magnet for misfortune...but fun? That was really why Fanboy wanted to be around him so much? Such a simple reason? It was...flattering. In a way that he _didn't_ hate.

Then he realized he was actually now holding Fanboy's hand against his chest. Upon the realization, his face fell into a bit of stun and he let it go, but the hand stayed where it was. Then Kyle blinked. Was it him, or was Fanboy looking a little pink now too?

Indeed, when his hand was grabbed, Fanboy felt a sudden spark in his gut. And then the way Kyle had grinned, blushing so bashfully at him...all at once it made Fanboy think he'd meant his words more than even he'd thought. His compulsion to be with Kyle was something he'd never bothered to try pinpointing before. It had just felt natural, and he'd never needed an excuse to be friends with someone or be affectionate, but Kyle's case had always been a little odd. Fanboy could recognize he liked him, and quite a lot, but it still felt different. And this wasn't the first time they'd held hands without thinking only to notice something about it felt funny. Or even the second. And this time no one else was around. The intimacy of it all hit Fanboy like a very belated brick.

“So...” Tentatively, Kyle's hand hovered back over the other, thinking the same thing before lightly letting it land on the back of the one in the purple glove. “When you say...like...”

“Ummmm...kinda not...sure anymore...” Fanboy admitted. He would have said Kyle was easily ranked as best friend number two, but in a way he liked Kyle even more than Chum Chum. Chum Chum didn't make him feel weird to hold hands with. They could do that as a friendly gesture without thought. They could even peck one another on the head without feeling...this. Oh gosh. Thinking about kissing _Kyle_ was making the butterflies in Fanboy's stomach go nuts. Did he like the other boy so much that he _like-_ liked him? Was it even possible to like-like another boy? Was this what true like-like was?

It kind of looked that way.

“I, uh...kinda wanna cuddle you even _more_ now, though,” he managed to note. His hand shifted to hold Kyle's properly.

This still told Kyle all he needed to know. His breath hitched when his hand was taken. That warm glow Fanboy instilled in him was out of control by this point. If it had been Fanboy's goal to heat him up, he'd certainly succeeded.

“And...strangely...I now feel compelled to...let you.”

A moment passed while they simply stared at one another, the rain pounding against the outside of the bus stop feeling like an amplification of their hearts.

Fanboy ventured, “Soooo...why don't we just do that, then? Worry about that whole 'how much do I like you' thing later?” He was not a fan of difficult questions, but he _did_ like to just roll with things.

More than willing to put any complicated feelings on the back burner, the redhead was relieved to hear Fanboy felt the same in that regard. “Agreed.” It didn't have to matter now. It didn't have to be awkward, either. They could just have this moment and sort out what it all meant once the danger had passed.

It was pleasant.

Amazingly, nothing went horribly wrong during this interaction. Fanboy just settled himself against the other, holding him close, basking in the softness and sweet scent. Meanwhile Kyle nestled in place, using Fanboy's arm as a pillow while he held his hand and enjoyed the comfort enveloping him. Dare he say, as much as the rainwater dissolving him, he might be in danger of falling asleep here.

He did not, however, and the pair even spent some time making origami out of the bus schedules simply for how unrelenting the rain had decided to be. Even that ended up being enjoyable. Before long the entire terminal was full of random paper sculptures the two had created in contest while lounging together.

Then, at long last, the rain finally spent itself and the sun peeked through the parting clouds.

Fanboy perked. “He-heeeyy..! The storm's finally over..! You're safe, Kyle! Now you can go home!” Loosening his hold, he granted, “Your protector releases you! Maybe take an origami action figure for the road, though?”

He grabbed one of the paper dolls he'd made, dancing it enticingly in front of Kyle's face and launching a paper missile from the toy's back-mounted cannon at him. He just kind of wanted the wizard boy to remember this. To not forget to think about it once he left.

Kyle had merely peeked one eye open in his rested position once the sun was mentioned, giving it and the offered keepsake an unimpressed expression, not reacting any differently as the paper missile bounced off his temple.

Calmly, pointedly, he reached for the edge of the cape Fanboy had lifted from him and tugged it back down around himself, settling back into place with a firm snuggle.

“Perhaps just _one_ more minute...”


End file.
